Speeches that Shaped South Africa: From Malan to Malema

by Martha Evans

Overview

Great speeches have the power to bring about political change, and South Africa lays claim to some of the world’s most skilled orators, from Nelson Mandela, whose courageous statement from the dock inspired the liberation struggle, to Desmond Tutu, whose ‘Rainbow People of God’ speech prepared the country for a new era. On the other side of the political spectrum, who can forget P.W. Botha’s infamous Rubicon speech, an oratorical flop which took the country backwards during the 1980s, or F.W. de Klerk’s unbanning of the ANC in 1990, which took it forwards again? Speeches that Shaped South Africa is the first collection of these historic utterances, featuring key speeches from the beginning of apartheid to the present. It includes Harold Macmillan’s ‘Wind of Change’, Thabo Mbeki’s ‘I am an African’ and Mmusi Maimane’s ‘Broken Man’ speech. Also featured are Bram Fischer, Helen Suzman, Steve Biko, Winnie Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Julius Malema and many others. The book covers past and present shenanigans in Parliament, clandestine broadcasts on Radio Freedom, moving funeral eulogies that celebrate our political giants, and the informal rhetoric of populist crowd-pleasers. Accompanying each speech is a commentary that places it in a historical context and explores its effects. Accessible and engaging, this analysis is based on original research and offers fresh insights into events. This is a fascinating journey through South African history over the past seventy years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781776091423
Publisher:	Penguin Random House South Africa
Publication date:	11/01/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	622 KB

About the Author

Martha Evans is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town. Her first book was Broadcasting the End of Apartheid: Television and the Birth of a New South Africa, published in 2014.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

National Party campaign speech, Paarl, 29 March 1948 D.F. Malan 1

'Apartheid over our dead bodies' speech, 10 July 1948 Yusuf Dadoo 7

Presidential address to the Transvaal ANC Women's League, 11 November 1956 Lilian Ngoyi 14

Opening address at the Africanist inaugural convention, 4 April 1959 Robert Sobukwe 21

'Wild of Change' speech, 3 February 1960 Harold MacMillan 31

Speech of thanks to Harold Macmillan, 3 February 1960 H.F. Verwoerd 44

Nobel Peace Prize lecture, 11 December 1961 Albert Luthuli 50

First Radio Freedom broadcast, 26 June 1963 Walter Sisulu 61

Statement from the dock during the Rivonia Trial, 20 April 1964 Nelson Mandela 65

'What I did was right', statement from the dock, 28 March 1866 Bram Fischer 79

'Ripple of Hope' speech, 6 June 1966 Robert F. Kennedy 95

Speech in Parliament on the NP's race policy, 22 July 1970 Helen Suzman 107

'White Racism, Black Consciousness', January 1971 Steve Biko 117

Speech at a Charge or Release Detainees meeting, 5 October 1975 Winnie Mandela 129

Reply to a motion of no confidence in the government, 30 January 1976 B.J. Vorster 139

Speech at the launch of the UDF, 20 August 1983 Allan Boesak 150

'Year of the Women' address, 8 January 1984 Oliver Tambo 158

'My Father Says' speech, 10 February 1985 Zindzi Mandela 173

'Rubicon' speech, 15 August 1985 P.W. Botha 179

Resignation speech, 7 February 1986 Frederik van zyl Slabbert 191

'Rainbow People of God' speech, 13 September 1989 Desmond Tutu 202

Opening of Parliament, 2 February 1990 F.W. De Klerk 209

Release speech, 11 February 1900 Nelson Mandela 221

Televised address after Chris Hani's death, 13 April 1993 Nelson Mandela 230

Inauguration speech, 10 May 1994 Nelson Mandela 237

Testimony at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 16-17 April 1996 Nomonde Calata Nyameka Goniwe 244

'I am an African', 8 May 1996 Thabo Mbeki 253

Speech at the 13th International AIDS Conference, 9 July 2000 Nkosi Johnson 263

Resignation speech, 21 September 2008 Thabo Mbeki 270

Speech at Marikana, 18 August 2012 Julius Malema 280

Speech at Nelson Mandela's funeral service, 15 December 2013 Ahmed Kathrada 289

State of the Nation Address, 12 February 2015 Jacob Zuma 297

'Broken Man' speech, 17 February 2015 Mmusi Maimane 308

Speech at Ahmed Kathrada's memorial, 1 April 2017 Barbara Hogan 319

Acknowledgements 329

Abbreviations 331

Notes 333

Index 359